Brian Cox’s top 10 science day trips

When it comes to inspiring young scientists, nothing compares to visiting the sites of great discoveries, says Professor Brian Cox. Here are his favourite places

Brian Cox cheerfully admits that his TV documentaries are part-scientific exposition, part eye-boggling travelogue. “The original, very good idea,” he says, “was that we should use places on Earth as analogues for the solar system.”

Wonders of the Solar System, Wonders of the Universe and other shows have inspired countless young and not so young minds. But Cox still thinks the screen is “no substitute” for actually visiting great sites of scientific discovery: “TV can light the flame. But to go further you need to go to the places where cutting-edge science was done.”